An Inquisition Into The Void Century. 2024
"An Inquisition into the Void Century" presents a speculative exploration inspired by the ancient relic known as the Singapore Stone. This artefact, rediscovered in June 1819 and subsequently destroyed in 1843 to widen the mouth of the Singapore River, was believed to contain information about Singapura’s ancient past and possibly insights into a world shrouded in mystery and obscurity, particularly during the 17th century.
The series of sculptures embraces the irony of materiality, emphasising both weight (symbolising the importance of uncovering and understanding a proto-colonial history) and permanence (representing socio-cultural meta-monuments that exist with, across, or after this history). These sculptures aim to represent what the Singapore Stone might have contained: a range of curiosities, possibly holding the secrets of a covenant, expressions of love, or perhaps even a simple recipe.
"An Inquisition into the Void Century" presents a speculative exploration inspired by the ancient relic known as the Singapore Stone. This artefact, rediscovered in June 1819 and subsequently destroyed in 1843 to widen the mouth of the Singapore River, was believed to contain information about Singapura’s ancient past and possibly insights into a world shrouded in mystery and obscurity, particularly during the 17th century.
The series of sculptures embraces the irony of materiality, emphasising both weight (symbolising the importance of uncovering and understanding a proto-colonial history) and permanence (representing socio-cultural meta-monuments that exist with, across, or after this history). These sculptures aim to represent what the Singapore Stone might have contained: a range of curiosities, possibly holding the secrets of a covenant, expressions of love, or perhaps even a simple recipe.
This is Where We'll Part: The Perpetual Ending of An Immortal. 2024
Rocks, naturally occurring objects that are ever-present but which often go unnoticed, are silent witnesses to the passing of time. Nhawfal Juma’at contemplates the paradox of immortality and the transient nature of existence through a study of rocks. To the artist, rocks are metaphors for the eternal. Yet beneath their immutable surface, they are evolving. This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on how these everyday objects capture human imagination and symbolically act as counterpoints to a world fixated on the idea of legacy.
Drawing upon his interests in metaphysics and the mysteries that lie beyond earthly existence, Nhawfal’s ruminations manifest in drawing, painting, sculpture and text. A sculptural installation of rock-like forms and renderings of floating rocks evoke a sense of being suspended in the infinite expanse of time and space. This exploration extends to an archival display featuring rocks and ceramics alongside the artist’s philosophical ponderings and sketches. This exhibition reflects on man’s unending quest for knowledge and understanding in the face of the fleeting beauty of life.
Rocks, naturally occurring objects that are ever-present but which often go unnoticed, are silent witnesses to the passing of time. Nhawfal Juma’at contemplates the paradox of immortality and the transient nature of existence through a study of rocks. To the artist, rocks are metaphors for the eternal. Yet beneath their immutable surface, they are evolving. This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on how these everyday objects capture human imagination and symbolically act as counterpoints to a world fixated on the idea of legacy.
Drawing upon his interests in metaphysics and the mysteries that lie beyond earthly existence, Nhawfal’s ruminations manifest in drawing, painting, sculpture and text. A sculptural installation of rock-like forms and renderings of floating rocks evoke a sense of being suspended in the infinite expanse of time and space. This exploration extends to an archival display featuring rocks and ceramics alongside the artist’s philosophical ponderings and sketches. This exhibition reflects on man’s unending quest for knowledge and understanding in the face of the fleeting beauty of life.
For This is Where You Will Find Me. 2023
A site-specific installation that celebrates the transition of day into night; Ramadan to Syawwal. A psychological structure that reflects upon the spiritual gap (growth) we intend to bridge; from the Heavens down to Earth; from the absorption of aether and piercing it deep into our hearts.
A site-specific installation that celebrates the transition of day into night; Ramadan to Syawwal. A psychological structure that reflects upon the spiritual gap (growth) we intend to bridge; from the Heavens down to Earth; from the absorption of aether and piercing it deep into our hearts.
The Forestalling of Something Bigger. 2023
The Forestalling of Something Bigger is the presentation and examination of the values and attribution associated to a possible realisation of art contained within the immediate stratum of an artist's process; a sketch.
The Forestalling of Something Bigger is the presentation and examination of the values and attribution associated to a possible realisation of art contained within the immediate stratum of an artist's process; a sketch.
NOCTURNE: Conversations with Waterloo. 2022
What gives a place significance? What creates space for new memories, ideas and imagination? The answer is what binds us together. NOCTURNE: Conversations with Waterloo presents two sculptures captured in a transient moment when a conversation is midway, overheard in a communal space like the coffeeshop; where possibilities of the discussion are limitless.
Playing on humankind’s intrinsic nature to create and engage in conversation, the artwork encapsulates the feeling one gets when accidentally overhearing a snippet of conversation while enroute to a destination and finding what was said oddly relatable even if just for a moment. The concept of conversation, a phenomenon that allows us to understand, contemplate and traverse the passage of time, is likened to nocturnes lighting up in our minds growing and expanding, like how plants respond to the sun in constant reincarnation and rebirth.
What gives a place significance? What creates space for new memories, ideas and imagination? The answer is what binds us together. NOCTURNE: Conversations with Waterloo presents two sculptures captured in a transient moment when a conversation is midway, overheard in a communal space like the coffeeshop; where possibilities of the discussion are limitless.
Playing on humankind’s intrinsic nature to create and engage in conversation, the artwork encapsulates the feeling one gets when accidentally overhearing a snippet of conversation while enroute to a destination and finding what was said oddly relatable even if just for a moment. The concept of conversation, a phenomenon that allows us to understand, contemplate and traverse the passage of time, is likened to nocturnes lighting up in our minds growing and expanding, like how plants respond to the sun in constant reincarnation and rebirth.
Before Breath: Pneuma In Euclidean’s Space. 2020
Before Breath: Pneuma In Euclidean’s Space is an attempt to physicalise the idea of the appearance of one’s soul prior to consciousness and into being. This has led the artist to create a visual discourse through sculptural means of one’s initial beginning to one’s possible ending, and the effort of being purposeful in between (thoughtful spirituality phase) albeit with the intention of being inconclusive. Here, the physicalisation of the transition of the soul and into being are represented through the means of Geometry (cuboid-shaped structure), a universal rule that is concerned with objective realities such as shapes, lines, forms and the relative position of figures; which are then placed on top of four stones at each corners of the cuboid, a metaphor for an anchor of one’s soul into being/body. The installation could be read as both a representation for the beginning of consciousness and thrown into the world or as our consciousness is leaving and progressing into another phase.
Before Breath: Pneuma In Euclidean’s Space is an attempt to physicalise the idea of the appearance of one’s soul prior to consciousness and into being. This has led the artist to create a visual discourse through sculptural means of one’s initial beginning to one’s possible ending, and the effort of being purposeful in between (thoughtful spirituality phase) albeit with the intention of being inconclusive. Here, the physicalisation of the transition of the soul and into being are represented through the means of Geometry (cuboid-shaped structure), a universal rule that is concerned with objective realities such as shapes, lines, forms and the relative position of figures; which are then placed on top of four stones at each corners of the cuboid, a metaphor for an anchor of one’s soul into being/body. The installation could be read as both a representation for the beginning of consciousness and thrown into the world or as our consciousness is leaving and progressing into another phase.
Ke Datanganku Dari Laut ke Tanahmu (My Arrival from the Sea to your Land). 2019
Anchored along the banks of Kallang Riverside Park, the installation is an ode to the vessels that once plied this river, en route to or from the larger Straits of Singapore, as well as the hopes and dreams of the people that these vessels once contained. Inspired by a jong, a traditional Malay ship, the materiality of the installation consists of mild steel (exterior) and stainless steel mirrored finish (interior) as metaphors for the reflective ends of our cultural and historical identity, fading in and out of the maritime landscape, like so many individuals that once passed through this shoreline.
Anchored along the banks of Kallang Riverside Park, the installation is an ode to the vessels that once plied this river, en route to or from the larger Straits of Singapore, as well as the hopes and dreams of the people that these vessels once contained. Inspired by a jong, a traditional Malay ship, the materiality of the installation consists of mild steel (exterior) and stainless steel mirrored finish (interior) as metaphors for the reflective ends of our cultural and historical identity, fading in and out of the maritime landscape, like so many individuals that once passed through this shoreline.
On A Flight to Post-Postmodernism and into Metamodernism. 2019
I am not concern about being subjected to a particular idea that confines or defines, but rather having the freedom to think and create in order to present a particular idea that bears the liberty to be confined by others, not me. Metamodernism isn’t the opposition of Postmodernism but an oscillation of Postmodernism and Modernism at best; if not it is an oscillation across all previous modes, much like Romanticism. It is the rejection of rigid ways of viewing the world, a form of acceptance and understanding, a perennial philosophy I suppose. Applied in the spirit of art making; at every stage of conceptualisation and making are pure, carrying meaningless meanings through images of an abstract idea. Presented in the exhibition are layers of the thoughts qua influences of a maker. Through the arrangement of the installation you will try to understand and create meanings for yourself and assure that is what the maker meant. And that is the stage where you have won, oscillating across your experiences and selecting the right thoughts to create an understanding of the installation, albeit absolution.
I am not concern about being subjected to a particular idea that confines or defines, but rather having the freedom to think and create in order to present a particular idea that bears the liberty to be confined by others, not me. Metamodernism isn’t the opposition of Postmodernism but an oscillation of Postmodernism and Modernism at best; if not it is an oscillation across all previous modes, much like Romanticism. It is the rejection of rigid ways of viewing the world, a form of acceptance and understanding, a perennial philosophy I suppose. Applied in the spirit of art making; at every stage of conceptualisation and making are pure, carrying meaningless meanings through images of an abstract idea. Presented in the exhibition are layers of the thoughts qua influences of a maker. Through the arrangement of the installation you will try to understand and create meanings for yourself and assure that is what the maker meant. And that is the stage where you have won, oscillating across your experiences and selecting the right thoughts to create an understanding of the installation, albeit absolution.
Rückenfigur. 2019
riding to the west before a blanket of darkness arrives, paying homage to the setting sun.
riding to the west before a blanket of darkness arrives, paying homage to the setting sun.
Wind Though: The Physicality of Thought. 2018
The window invites light and cast shadows onto both the mental and physical space of ours; and serves as a metaphor for man's quest for greater space. Today within our new communications culture, we find multidimensional window arrangements - interfaces - that will permit man to navigate the non-Euclidean realms of postmodern cyberspace. With this installation, the artist is paying homage to the intangibility of our thoughts and imaginations by being inspired through the use of three-dimensional objects as metaphors for a conception.
In This Space I Will Find You. 2018
In This Space I Will Find You is an outdoor public art installation that draws inspiration from the geometric forms of Singapore’s housing estates. Consisting of mirrored columns that surround a similarly reflective cube-shaped pavilion, the installation has the paradoxical appearance of seeming both monumental yet light and insubstantial: present, yet almost dissolving into its environment. Its fort-like circular layout suggests a psychological stronghold, and acts as an instrument of expression that calls to mind the various prisms through which we view others and ourselves.
The passage of time and comings and goings of people make each visit to this artwork a unique experience. Having seen the gradual development of Woodlands while growing up here, artist Nhawfal Juma’at wants to playfully remind us that home itself is a work in progress that constantly changes, with improvements and corrections made over time.
- Susanna Tan
placinghomewoodlands.wixsite.com/info/nhawfal-juma-at
Romantic Conceptualism: How Time is Being Spent and Romantic Conceptualism: Time Being Spent. 2018
How Time is Being Spent was inspired by the constant regrets for the wrongful decisions made; that anticipation is a foresight hard to grasp. The idea is presented through printed text that advertises the phrase "Tomorrow We Should Have Discuss What To Do For Yesterday". Time Being Spent was presented through a performative installation where the artist expressed ideas of Transcendence through the displacement of four rocks, a circle drawn by coloured pigment, a book on Structuralism and Post-Structuralism for Dummies and ending of with the performative act of a prayer and the acquiring of knowledge through reading.
Subject Documenta: Window/ In Praise of a Shadow. 2018
in the constant presence of absence, the understanding of darkness and absence through light and presence, a primordial substance from which all matter is formed, then comes the introduction of man, with his perennialism, light casts on being and darkness comforts his shadow, his shadow, his shadow, he is shadow.
in the constant presence of absence, the understanding of darkness and absence through light and presence, a primordial substance from which all matter is formed, then comes the introduction of man, with his perennialism, light casts on being and darkness comforts his shadow, his shadow, his shadow, he is shadow.
Room; Shambles. 2018
an introduction to objects qua room; deconstruct, now.
an introduction to objects qua room; deconstruct, now.
Fluorescent Night. 2017
a site-responsive work situated in DECK gallery, Singapore. A response to the physicality and approach of the gallery space.
To Morrow's Night. 2017
a site-specific installation at Waterloo Street, Block 262, in which a trellis is wrapped with black plastic shrink film. Through this veil, the form and the function of the trellis becomes unrecognisable and mysterious. Ultimately, the work functions as a dialogue between man-made structures and the natural elements.
META. 2017
META is a site dependent project, in which language and the acknowledgement of a reader is used to complete the notion of an artwork.
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He was the Mildest Mannered Man. 2016
a collaborative performance piece with Zulkhairi Zulkiflee cargocollective.com/zulkhairizulkiflee
Black Boots, Sweat and Rain. 2016
Black Boots, Sweat, and Rain is the making of simple creative acts of art through leaving temporal marks on site as a sign of the artist’s passing through time and space.
Circles: Slate Carvings. 2015
picked up slates in Loughboroguh and carved. filled with willow charcoal dust
Circles. 2015
site-specific works in Loughborough done over a period of seven weeks. to build a relationship between a new environment through art making.
